4th Collumn
by LavenderNight67
Summary: They were called mistakes. Abbaritions. But there is a fine line between a variance from the norm and an evolution of power.
1. 1 A Developing Mystery

A/N: This takes place some time after "The Dare". Not sure exactly when, but I just wanted to point that out.

-0-0-0-0-

This day had started out like any other, with Kalara standing in her usual spot. It had become habit when she wasn't 'chasing rookies' or running missions. There just weren't that many new Gaurdians, and even fewer new Hunters. She sighed, shifting her weight. She generally had a book or two handy to read, but today she was going over some data with her Ghost.

Finally a Hunter appeared, and walked up to stand across the table. Kalara recognised him as Alexi Dazmakov, one of the Hunters she had taught a few things a while back. He had been out patrolling the Cosmodrome. Cayde asked "Hey, how'd it go out there? find anything interesting?"

The sandy-brown haired gaurdian grinned. "Sure did." he summoned his Ghost, who transmatted in the broken top part of a patrol beacon. Cayde stared at is a moment. "ooookay. You broke a patrol beacon." Kalara giggled.

Alexi pressed the button, it dinged, and the message played.

"This is Cayde-6 of the Hunter Vangaurd. I have a couple of individuals I need you to track down. Keep in mind they'll be armed, and could be dangerous, so approach with caution. We need them brought back to the tower by any means neccesary. Your Ghost will have the details."

Kalara's grin vanished. "Where did you get that?"

"The cosmodrome." Alexi leaned on the table. "So what did you two do to get into so much trouble?"

Kalara opened her mouth then shut it, turning to Cayde "I thought you deactivated all the beacons and brought them back to the tower."

A shrug "I did. Must have missed one. But they were all shut down."

Alexi added "It was, but one of the Gurdians on my team fixed it." He tilted his head. "Bet it's a heck of a story, right? Hunters have their stories, yes?"

Kalara shook her head and picked up the beacon "I can't tell you what happened." Alexi folded his arms. "Then maybe someone else will." he nodded to Cayde "Boss." and walked out. Kalara muttered "I hope not. Lav and my being here in the Tower's in big trouble if word gets out."

It had been the agreement, of sorts, they had come to with the speaker.

\- TWO WEEKS AGO -

Kalara ignored the two Tower Gaurds walking behind Lavender and herself as they headed to the North Tower. They were escorted up the steps to where the Speaker was studying something. He straightened as they approached, then politely told the Gaurds "You may go." They descended the stairs to stand just outside the door.

"Your Ghosts, please."

Kalara asked "What're you gonna do to them?"

"One cannot fix what is broken without first knowing what is broken."

Lavender started to open her mouth but shut it again when Kalara gave her a look. Kalara said "we're not broken, and neither are our Ghosts. Our powers are evolving."

"All Gaurdians have a class to which they belong. If they do not belong to a class, then they are not a Gaurdian."

Kalara wasn't sure how to take that. She shook her head. "I know it's supposed to be a secret. We can keep it, stay in-class."

"Lies are a web that tightens with time. Why use a facade when the truth is so much easier?"

Kalara shifted her weight, thinking to herself "Darnit. He's talking in riddles again."

Lavender folded her arms.

"I must analyse your Ghosts to find out what went wrong." The Speaker held out a hand.

Suddenly Gavin's voice sounded from behind the pair. "I don't think That's going to happen."  
Behind him, a whole troupe of Hunters filed in. First was Flitter, Gyster, Fon, Tanner, Aries, Klyne... seven in all.

Behind them, Zanthyr walked in with Saniya, Trystan, Viktir, and the Warlock-class they had saved in the Crucible Arena.

Gavin folded his arms. "I happen to know someone who doesn't want word about our two friends here getting around the tower." He thudded up the steps so he was face-to-face with the Speaker. "Those Gaurdians know about Lavender and Kalara. And as long as you leave these two alone, and let them stay in the Tower, the way they are, My friends will keep their mouths shut."

the Speaker looked past him. Tanner folded his arms and tried to look defiant. The Speaker regaurded the Titan, then thought for a moment "You would threaten the Tower with such knowledge." It seemed more of a statement than a question. Another pause, then "It would appear I have no other choice. You may stay as you are. But I encourage you strongly to leave the Tower and never come back."

Kalara did a silent "Yesss" motion with her arm. Lavender hugged Gavin. "We already tried that. I don't think it's gonna happen."

The Speaker looked at her. "You were not supposed to have been allowed to leave; But now it would be the wisest course of action."

Lavender looked suprised. Kalara passed them down the steps. Lavender and Gavin followed after a minute to join their joyful friends. The group headed back to the watch, talking amongst themselves, and Lavender wondered about what the Speaker had said.

\- PRESENT MOMENT -

Kalara asked asked "How many of those things did you put out, anyway?"

"About a half a dozen or so." The Exo looked over at her. "Relax, we got all of them back." He paused, then added "I think."

Kalara groaned softly. "I sure hope so." she set the beacon on the floor next to her under the table until she could figure out what to do with it.

Alexi crossed the tower watch, heading for the Hangar area. The Hunters' Lounge was allways a popular hangout. Maybe he'd run into someone there. No Hunters, but a couple of civilians were sitting on the couch to the right talking quietly. One of them greeted "Hunter."

Alexi grinned. "what do you know about Thunder and Lightning?"

The man looked up, suprised. "You know them? Thunder and Lightning? They saved our settlement. My wife and I came here to be safe after they left. " Alexi sat on the crate across from them. "Yes, I know them." He grinned. "Please, do tell."

Two hours later, Kalara saved her research on her tablet and rubbed her eyes. She turned off the second, which had the source-data on it and put her own tablet on standby. She was about to leave for lunch when Lavender walked in.

"Hey Lav, shouldn't you be out training rookies?"

Lavender shook her head. "We got done early. one of them didn't show up. I checked with the infirmary, and he's not sick or anything. I don't know what's going on. It makes the second one in as many days." She shook her head and tapped her tablet, handing it to Kalara. The purple-haired Gaurdian frowned. "Well, they all have trackers, so let's see where he is."

She turned on her tablet and brought up the trackers. She typed in the Gaurdian's name. "He's still in the tower. Looks like he's on level 242. Not sure what that part of it is, I've never been to it." she handed Lavender her tablet back.

About half an hour later, Lavender reappeared, still looking puzzled.

"You find him?"

Lavender shook her head. "It's a section marked "Authorized Access Only". Kalara tilted her head, knowing Lavender could phase through solid objects if she wanted to.

"I thought about Blinking through the wall, but I don't know what's on the other side." Lavender shrugged, adding "I'm sure he'll turn up eventually." Kalara nodded, agreeing. Lavender collected the details of her next mission and walked out.

She wondered what team she'd be on, if not her own. After Trystan's return, he'd been put on Gavin's fireteam, along with an Awoken Warlock-class named Viktir Tavec. She understood, her own team needed her back anyway. And they weren't supposed to date Gaurdians on their own team. Speaking of which...

Lavender hit her comm "Lavender to Gavin, you there?"

no response. "That's wierd." she tried it again. "Hey, you busy or something?"

nothing. Lavender was beginning to worry. Gavin *allways* answered his comm right away. Even when he was sleeping. It was part of his job to answer, being a member of the Tower Gaurd. She headed down to his apartment to see if he was home. She ran the doorbell what seemed like a hundred times before giving up and going to the hangar to see if his ship was still sitting there being repaired.

She looked across the bay and it was still in the farthest 'corral', one of the repair frames sanding away at the deep gash on one side. "Hmm." she muttered and walked out. She commed "Lavender to Xanthyr. You there?"

there was a pause then the Titan replied "Heeeey. What's going on?" he sounded nervous.

"Have you seen Gavin? I can't find him or get ahold of him over the comm."

Zanther replied slowly "No," then hastily added "Uh, this, isn't really a good time. I'm sorry?" He eyed the two gaurdians aiming their weapons at him. He had the feeling he shouldn't have answered the doorbell.

Lavender sighed. "You're right. He's a mature Gaurdian, he can take care of himself. I'm worrying too much. Sorry for bothering you."

"OkayBye." Zanthyr hung up hastily.

Lavender thought for a second, then commed Quantum. "Hey, Lavender, what's up?"

"Not much. Got a mission to run, is Red back yet?"

"Yeah. We'll meet you in the courtyard."

"Great, thanks."

-  
An hour and a half had passed and Kalara rechecked the time. Tonight was Friday, the night she and her friends had what they had dubbed "The Memory Circle." It basically involved sitting in a circle shooting the person across from you so they could see memories of their previous lives.

Since Gaurdians shot at each other in the crucible, and because of the rule-bending involved, the group decided to move their event to the Crucible arena at Bannerfall. Kalara had already booked their "Private Match" under the guise of stealth training, which would be after that.

She hoped somebody would let her know they were coming to the event. The previous Friday they'd had Memory circle, lit a fire (inside a metal fire ring) and sat around for a couple hours having drinks and snacks, then around midnight started a game Kalara remembered from her previous life, called 'Rabbit'.

The game was hide-and-go-seek in the dark, and involved one person throwing a bouncy-ball at whatever player they came across. That person then became 'it' as well, and got their own bouncy ball. And so on and so forth until there was only one person left. However, since the only *throwable* ball in the tower was the Soccer ball, Kalara and company had paid one of the vendors to make more.

The Hunter went back to her tablet, waiting for Six PM to roll around so she could go home and get ready for the night's activities.

She watched the Gaurdians come and go for a while, then spotted Gavin. "Hey, Gavin!" she waved. He walked over, a serious look on his face..

She noticed and asked "What's up?"

"I think you should go talk to Tanner. Not right now though, tomorrow morning."

"Why? What happened?"

Gavin glanced at the door, then looked back at her. "He got drunk in the lounge and started a fight with a pair of Titans. We had to take him in, but he'll be released tomorrow."

Kalara rolled her eyes. "Who were they, dare I ask?"

"Benj and Typh."

"WHAT!? How could he start a fight with those two! they're sweethearts, both of 'em."

Gavin nodded. "I don't know, I didn't file the report. But just.. go talk to him tomorrow, okay?" He put a hand on her shoulder before walking away to speak to commander Zavala.

Kalara called "Hey Gavin?"

He turned mid-stride. "Are you coming to the thing tonight?" He looked confused, then realised what she meant. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great!" now if she could find out if everyone else was planning on being there. They had discussed it earlier in the week, so she could guess they would be.

Finally, Six O-Clock rolled around and Kalara gathered up her tablets. "Well, it's six, so I'll see you later." She got two steps and Cayde called after her "Have fun. You know where I'll be. Right Here."

Kalara smiled and hurried a little faster.  



	2. 2 Conspiracies

The next morning, Kalara was at her usual spot next to Cayde. She was reading over the newest training roster when Zanthyr walked in. She set the tablet on the table and walked over to hug him. "where were you? I was starting to worry. You didn't show up last night."

Zanthyr shifted his weight nervously and nodded. "I had a little run-in with the Tower Gaurd." Kalara's eyebrows went up. Zanthyr quickly added "Don't worry! I'm not in any trouble or anything. They just wanted to ask me a few questions." He motioned to emphasize his point. "Everything's fine." Kalara studied him, but relented. "Okay." She did tend to worry about her boyfriend sometimes.

They hugged again, and Zanthyr held on for a moment. "Awww, I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Get a room or something, will ya."

Zanthyr gave Cayde a look. Kalara chuckled. "I gotta get back to work. See you later, okay?"

"Okay." The Titan leaned over for a quick kiss before parting ways (to different sides of the table).

Kalara picked up her tablet and went over the training roster for the third time. Something was... off about it. There were lower-level Gaurdians that were supposed to be on the roster, but weren't. She made a mental note of it and re-checked her console. Her training session with the lower levels was scheduled for noon, so she had a couple hours to watch the Crucible cameras. She had been doing that a lot lately, but it was interesting. And fun. And informative.

Most of the arenas were empty, but there were three with activity. The first, a free-for-all on the moon, had six Gaurdians, of varying classes. She noticed one of the Titans run in and instead of powered-punching his opponent, used what looked like a void-attack. She raised an eyebrow and made a note of the Gaurdian's name, timestamp, and location, for future reference. then she sent a quick message for him to meet with Lavender in the Lounge when he got back. She knew the Hunter would be able to find out more about this.

The next arena was the Euroupean Flood zone, a pretty small arena, with a control-based match. Three versus three. She could easily see everyone, except for when someone decided to hide in the shadow of a rock, like the current Gaurdian, a Hunter, was doing. Kalara shook her head as a Titan came barreling around the corner and fired. But the Hunter *didn't* go flying. Instead, he blinked as he ran forward, and Kalara wondered what level he was.

The Hunter power-punched the Titan from behind. Kalara brought up the menu and pulled the Hunter from the match. There was no doubt about what that was. She was sure he was swearing from his ship, but she couldn't let anyone else see what he had just done. The Hunter tried to rejoin the matches, but Kalara locked him out. She would speak with him when no one else was around. She sent the message "Mission assignment incoming, report to the Tower."

She hoped she could keep him out of sight long enough to talk to him.

Lavender walked in. "Hey boss."

Cayde answered "Gaurdian. What can I do for ya?" Kalara looked at Lavender, asked "Hi, what's up?"

The hunter walked over to their side of the table and lowered her voice slightly, asking Kalara "Have you seen or heard from Saniya?"

"No, why?"

"I think something's going on. Two more Gaurdians have dissapeared. Last night. I know "we" have our own trackers," she did air-quotes on the "we" part, "but that's the wierd part. Their trackers aren't registering." Her look turned serious. "I checked the Hunter frequency, and the trackers for the two that missed training are turned off now, too. "I think something's going on."

Kalara frowned. "Alexi Dazmakov came in yesterday. He found one of the deactivated patrol beacons in the cosmodrome from when we left. He said one of the Gaurdians on his team fixed it. I heard the message myself." She glanced around to be sure nobody was listening, then continued. "He was asking questions." she took a deep breath. "I didn't say anything, but he implied he was gonna ask around. I just hope he didn't find anything out."

Lavender dropped her head. "I hope not, too." After a moment, she lifted her head to look at Kalara. "You know," she looked over her friend's shoulder, and added, almost in a whisper "This isn't just about us anymore."

"I know. I need you to go find out what's going on. Ask around, *carefully*, find out who all's gone missing. There are more than just Hunters in our little group. So I can't keep track of everyone all the time. My monitor's too out-in-the-open for that."

About that time Ikora asked "what are you two whispering about?" Kalara's head shot up. "Nothing." She gave Lavender a look. Lavender nodded and walked out. Kalara caught the suspicious look before turning her attention back to her monitor.

Rhodes 'Ro' Hydel teleported down to the Tower Watch, still fuming about being pulled from the Crucible match. His team was probably furious with him about his leaving before it was over. He started forward, but two giant figures walked in front of him, blocking his path. They were a pair of Titans, members of the Tower Gaurd.

The one on the left greeted congenially "Hello, we would like to have a word with you." He looked to the other, who assured him "We won't take much of your time, just a few questions." The Hunter followed them as they walked toward the North Tower.

Kalara sighed and glanced around, wondering if she should check her monitor for any more missing trackers. It had been over an hour and Lavender hadn't even commed her. She'd sent the Hunter to the lounge to meet with the titan from the Crucible matches. She hoped Lavender hadn't gotten into yet another drinking contest.

Finally, Kalara spotted the familiar form. She waved as Lavender walked up. "Any news?"  
"no." the red-blonde shook her head. "I did speak with Norse about the Crucible matches. And he hasn't noticed anything unusual either." Kalara nodded. "Hm. Maybe I'm just imagining it, then."

They stood there a moment or two longer when a trio of tower Gaurds walked in. Lavender smiled. "Hey Gavin." He simply nodded and one of the other Gaurds whispered something to him.

"Yeah, that's her."

The other Titan double-checked his tablet then lowered it. They walked up and he asked "Are you Avaria Lavis, also known as Lavender?"

Lavender shifted her weight nervously. "Yeah, why?" He lowered the tablet and took a step forward. "We were told the speaker wanted to talk to you." He smiled faintly "Don't worry, you're not in any trouble." he assured. Lavender glanced at Gavin, but the titan had a well-practiced neutral expression.

Lavender gave Kalara a suprised "What the What?" look, but she just shrugged in reply. Lavender glanced at Gavin again, who was staring past her. She headed for the North Tower, and the trio behind her waited a moment or two before following at a distance.

Kalara watched them go, then got out her monitor and brought up Lavender's tracker, putting it on a page behind the current one so nobody could see. Maybe she was just paranoid, but she wanted to know if anything sneaky was going on.

Ten minutes passed, and Kalara's comm dinged, with an urgent tag. she answered to hear Lavender's voice with a short, panicked sounding message. "Hide your colors." Kalara glanced at the door. "Their colors" meant the symbol for their group, those who were considered Transcendant, though not all of them displayed unclassed abilities. Some of them had overclassed abilities, abilities native to their class, only more powerful.

Half a second later, Lavender sprinted into the room, startling Kalara. She stopped next to the hunter femme and breathily exclaimed "the Gaurds..." she tried to catch her breath. "They know what we are. The word is out." she shook her head. "There's rumors flying, they're trying to get all the Gaurdians like us together, to try to "fix" them." she did air-quotes.

She paused to finish catching her breath. "I got away, but they arrested Gavin for helping me." she shook her head. "I don't know how or who told, but the other Gaurdians know about us."

Kalara blinked in suprise, then her attention snapped right as a pair of Tower Gaurds jogged through the next room. Lavender made a dismayed noise and turned on her stealth camo, going invisible. Kalara folded her arms, undoing the pin on her left arm as they approached. She turned back toward her monitor long enough to quietly drop it onto the toe of her boot noiselessly, then looked up at them.

Great. Cal and Ivis. The two glared at her as they strode up. Ivis demanded "Hey. Have you seen your little friend? she goes by the name of Avaria Lavis?" Kalara shrugged. "haven't seen her in a minute." they both knew she used slang, and hoped they would take that term for it meaning "a while". Cal glanced around, looking for her. Behind Kalara, Lavender stayed perfectly still, stealth camo humming quietly.

Ivis looked her over. "Most of them have a pin, a symbol of some kind." he grabbed her left arm, narrowly missing brushing Lavender and looked at it. Kalara almost smirked. He let go. "Usually a diamond."

Kalara wished she could see Cayde's expression. Ivis continued "If you see her, you'd better tell us." Cal added "Or you'll be in trouble, too." Ivis cracked his knuckles for effect. Kalara wanted to roll her eyes at him but didn't. The two walked out.

Lavender walked around Kalara, scoffing "Nuckle-draggers."

"tch." Kalara watched them leave. Suddenly she realised she was being stared at.

"A diamond? really?"

she turned to look at Cayde. "what? it's become kind of a good luck charm." she shrugged. "Ever since that one card game when it came up."

"You mean the game you hustled me on?"

"I didn't cheat! i'm just... really good at Gin Rummy. Besides it wasn't that much Glimmer."

Cayde made a scoffing sound.

"And" she added "Cause of my beloved sniper rifle. I know it's not an exotic, but I never miss with it." Kalara knelt to look for her pin, which had ended up under the table. She found it and stood. "Lav, go get together as many of our group as you can, and get them into orbit. I want them off-planet before they can be found."

"Kay." Lavender nodded and jogged away, still invisible.

Ikora asked "Your group, how many of you are there, now?"

Kalara shrugged. Beside me and Lav, about a handful. But they're not all unclassed. some of them are overclassed, which means they have in-class abilities that are more powerful than they're supposed to be."

Zavala commented "And you didn't think it would be a good idea to tell us about this?"

"Why. we're not dangerous. Despite what other Gaurdians and the Speaker might think." she frowned at the thought.

"Exactly how many is a 'handful'?

Kalara looked at the table before speaking. Either she could tell the truth and cause alarm, or lie and hope things didn't get any worse. Besides, the Vangaurd got their orders directly from the speaker, so if anything DID happen after she told them anything, it would be her fault. She looked back at him, shrugged. "About ten."

It was a gamble, but she had to do it.

"mm-hm."

Darnit. She could tell he knew she was lying. But-

But that meant they had already found at least ten, possibly more. Well, at least she had a rough estimate of how many of the group hadn't been caught yet. She needed to tell Lav.

She replaced her pin and grabbed her console, transferring the data off of it onto her own, then wiped the memory. If anyone was going to try to get information about them, it wouldn't be from her. A female voice shrieked something from the steps and Lavender came running, totally visible, Ghost in hand. Kalara ran to meet her at the door.

Lavender tried shove back tears and steady herself, but shakily managed to whisper "We have to go. We have to go now."

Kalara put her hands on her friend's shoulders to calm her down. Whatever had happened, it had shaken the Hunter. "what's wrong, what happened?"

"Cal and Ivivs. they..." she paused to take a deep breath. Tanner and Flitter... they're dead."

"WHAT!?"

"they caught Flitter by the balcony. Took her Ghost then shot her, threw her over the edge. Tanner made it to the Traveler's walk." She shook her head, trying to erase the memory of Ivis incinerating the helpless Gaurdian.

Kalara's face darkened. "This has gone far enough. Those two have no respect for life. They're bullies, plain and simple."

Lavender whispered "What do we do? we can't find the others, I only got a few into orbit before coming back for the rest."

Kalara shifted her weight and eyed the four Gaurds walking toward them. "We take this to the Speaker." She walked back to grab her tablet and summoned her Ghost. "Please teleport this for me."

Lavender walked over. "What are you doing?"

Kalara took off her pin. "Trust me." she placed it on the front of her armor and folded her arms.

The gaurds walked in. The one on the left looked from one Gaurdian to the other. "Well well, Thunder and Lightning. And together, no less." Kalara noticed the other pair, Cal and Ivis, had walked around to stand behind them.

The Titan next to him nodded. "We need you to come with us."

The first added "And we'll be taking your Ghosts, if you don't mind."

Lavender frowned "Actually I do."

The two Gaurds exchanged a look and unsnapped the strap on their EMP sidearms. Kalara added "The only person who ever touches my Ghost is the Speaker. Or the boss or my sidekick here." she glanced at Lavender.

The first unhoilstered his weapon. "Step back from the table and keep your hands where I can see them." Kalara sighed and walked around to stand to Lavender's right.

The first Gaurd explained "Nothing personal, I'm just following orders." and fired. Kalara reached up to grab her ghost but Cal grabbed her wrist and snatched it from her Grasp. He tossed it to the Gaurd. the Gaurd next to him pulled out handcuffs. Kalara eyed them. "Handcuffs? we're not crimnals, you know."

Behind them, Ivis replied with "Oh yeah? then why did one of your little friends start a fight that ended with a tech being put in medical? in critical."

Kalara's eyes widened "What!?" she turned to look at him. "Yeah. He didn't make it." Kalara's hands closed into fists. "So you just shoot him after you take his ghost?"

The Titan shrugged. "Tower justice is Tower Justice."

Kalara hissed "That's not justice, it's murder!" she added "And what did Flitter ever do?"

Another shrug. She's an accessory. She was there and didn't try to stop it. Besides." he took a step forward, towering over her "If it were up to me, all you *freaks* would be rounded up and dealt with."

The first Gaurd interrupted with "I think that's enough. Let's go." They led the way with Kalara and Lavender in the middle, and Cal and Ivis behind them.

When they reached the Plaza, Kalara headed for the North tower, Cal and Ivis on either side of her, but the gaurd to Lavender's right grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the lifts.

"Wait, let me go. Let me go!" Lavender tried to pull away but the much larger Titan grabbed her other arm. Before she could explain or protest any more the other gaurd slammed the butt end of his weapon into the back of her head, knocking her out.

Kalara started to turn, but stopped, realising Cal and Ivis would shoot her. They barely needed an excuse as it was. Ivis shoved her forward. "Move!" Kalara started forward as one of the Gaurds tossed Lavender over his shoulder and said something to the other one, who laughed. The Gaurd not carrying Lavender picked up her Ghost.

They reached the Northern part of the tower and Kalara hurried up the steps to where the Speaker was waiting. "Why are you doing this? We're not broken, we're not dangerous, we're just... different."

"It is what is best for the Tower." The speaker turned back to his console for a moment before adding "I fear something has gone wrong with the Gaurdians. Whatever it is, it is not meant to be, and it must be corrected. Please, Gaurdian. Have faith in me. I am only trying to help you. All of you." Kalara folded her arms and wanted to say something snarky, but didn't. It seemed the Speaker was being genuine in his concern.

"I will call for you when I am ready to begin. Until then, you will stay with the others like you." He turned back to his monitor, finishing their conversation. Cal grabbed Kalara's arm yanking her backwards. "let's go."

She went, but he didn't let go. When they reached the lift, he turned and threw her into the lift, sending her stumbling off-balance backward. The Hunter fell, slamming into the back wall with a clang. Ivis stomped in after and the doors slid shut. 


	3. 3 Crescendo

She was being dragged... somewhere. Possibly to her permanent demise, if Cal and Ivis wanted to. They could just say she tried to get away like the others. Kalara tried to lift her head but couldn't find the strength. The pair had taken turns kicking and punching her in the lift. She wondered what she ever did to make them hate her this much.

Sure there had been some mean remarks, and the day she got both of them in the Crucible. Some people just never let go of grudges, she guessed. They stopped, and she tried to move. Cal slid a security card through the reader next to the door and the light turned green. It opened and she was dragged through and dropped to the floor.

A voice barked "Get up!" and an arm yanked her to her feet. Ivis grabbed her other arm and they continued on, half-carrying the beaten Hunter through the next section. They reached another door, this time with a pair of Gaurds, one on either side. The one on the left swiped his card.

They dragged her into the room and dropped her to the floor, one of the Gaurds from the door tossed her Ghost in after. The doors slid shut, locking with a solid click. "Kalara!" Xanthyr hurried over to make sure she was okay.

A minute or two, groaning sounded from one of the couches as Lavender came to. She sat up rubbing the back of her head, then reached over next to her to grab her Ghost. Kalara looked around. They were in some kind of meeting hall. Several couches were off to one side, a few games, several decks of cards, and to her suprise, a soccer ball.

Other Gaurdians were milling around, some talking, some sitting on the couches, trying to figure out what was going on. One Gaurdian in the far corner was crying, her friend trying to console her. Kalara knew all of them, part of their group. Some of them she had recruited herself. She reassured Xanthyr that she was okay and headed over to Lavender. Gavin glanced over from next to Lavender and said "I'll be right back."

Kalara sat next to her and asked "You okay?"

"Yeah, just got knocked in the head. What happened to you?"

Kalara just shrugged. "Guess those two knuckle-draggers can't let go of a grudge."

Gavin came back with some ice wrapped in a cloth. "Here. For your face." kalara winced. She wanted to find a mirror. Then again, there were bigger problems to worry about. "Thanks." She looked around. "How many Gaurdians are there here?"

"Eight. But the Speaker allready called two of them. They didn't come back here."

so she had guessed right. But that no longer mattered. "Who were they?"

"Emerald and Tavec."

"No, Viktir?"

The titan nodded.

Kalara shook her head. "well, if that's what he wanted, I can't argue. But I'd hate to think he was forced into anything." she remembered the polite, almost shy Warlock had been excited to discover he could do things those in his class usually couldn't. She looked around. "Saniya, hey!"

the Exo Warlock waved and nudged Trystan, also a Hunter. They walked over. Kalara looked around. "They got you too, huh?" she nodded.

"unfortunately." Trystan looked around. "Doesn't look good. Guess somebody thought the new kind of normal is the new kind of wierd."

"mmh." Kalara nodded. "We need to find a way out of this."

Saniya shook her head. "No ghosts. They somehow riggged this room with EMP generators. In here, our Ghosts stay paralysed."

Kalara looked around. Some of the Gaurdians seemed not to be worried with the outcome, but some had reacted in the opposite way. She saw the Gaurdian in the corner, crying on her friend's shoulder, not fully comprehending shat was going on. She thought for a moment, then said "Can I have your attention, please." They turned to listen.

"We have been given a choice, by the Speaker. I know some of you are scared. Others upset, or angry." she glanced at the Gaurdian in the corner. "We are what we are. We are not a mistake." she paused, then continued. "I know here are those of you who want to stay, this is the only life that you've known. And I understand that you're willing to give up the extended powers we've been granted in order to do so, but that decision has to be up to you."

One Gaurdian asked "what other choice is there?"

"Escape. Leave. When the Gaurds take you out, summon your Ghost and go to orbit."

"How? won't they see it?"

"Not if they're next to you and you summon it behind your back. Or some other opportunity."

A couple started whispering to each other. The doors clicked and unlocked, the two Gaurds stepped in. "Baxtin." Kalara took a deep breath Then another. then turned and followed them.

Kalara paused before walking up the steps to the Speaker. He turned to greet her "Gaurdian."

"Speaker." she dreaded what came next.

"I must analyse your Ghost before continuing."

She wanted to just run, but did as he asked. She glanced behind he though, to see if the Gaurds were still there. They had stopped at the bottom of the summoned her Ghost and it floated over to the scanner. She waited for what seemed like an eternity as the scanning beams ran across it. Finally, the speaker turned to her.

"It is as I feared. There have been too many rescans. A few Ghosts do choose their Gaurdian poorly. I am afraid the damage is irreversible, for this one." He turned to face her. "I am sorry."

Kalara felt a little hope race through her. "so what does this mean? I get to stay the way I am?"

The Speaker shook his head. "Unfortunately, it means you were never meant to be a Gaurdian. Your Ghost's data will have to be erased, and it will find a new Gaurdian."

Joy fled, replaced by anger and then sorrow. Kalara realised everything she knew and loved was coming to an end.

Now her Ghost spoke up. "No. You can't do that." he whizzed over to Kalara and hovered over one shoulder. "Please, let me stay with Kalara." the Speaker shook his head. Kalara thought fast. "Can I at least go tell my friends goodbye." she almost choked on that last word, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"Very well, it will take some time to prepare."

She wanted to bolt right then and there, leap off the edge of the Tower and leave. But if her Ghost couldn't be reprogrammed, there were others who had been Gaurdians as long as she had, even longer. she quietly followed the gaurds across the open area, passing Gavin with Benj and Typh going in the opposite direction. The Titans waved to her and Kalara silently waved back.

They continued on, back to the room where the others were waiting. As soon as she stepped inside, Kalara went straight to Xanthyr and dropped her head onto his broad chest, bursting into tears. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. He waited a full minute, then asked "What happened?"

he sobbing Hunter took a few shuddering breaths then choked out "I'm a mistake."

"What!? No you're not!"

A few more breaths, then "The Speaker said I wasn't meant to be a Gaurdian. That I can't be fixed."

"O-kay."

She pulled away from him slightly and looked up at him. "He wants to erase my Ghost."

"What!? He can't do that!"

She pulled away and he let go. "He said something about too many rescans, so the data can't be reset all the way back."

They hadn't heard Gavin return until he said "I heard the same thing." He looked from one Gaurdian to another. Kalara nodded. "It's probly cause I've been here so long." She looked from Gavin to Xanthyr. "About a year and a half." Xanthyr added "A year." He realised this theory now included him and whined "Awwwh."

Gavin added "two." He looked around, wondering how long the others had been here.

Lavender frowned. "We have to get out of here. Escape somehow. All of us, or at least those that've been here over a year." The others nodded. Trystan reached out and took Saniya's hand in his. Kalara's eyebrows went up a little, but the Awoken Hunter looked perfectly unbothered, instead looking at Saniya. "Then we need an escape plan. And fast." Saniya nodded.

Kalara thought about the possibilities. "Lav, you can phase through walls, right?"

"Yeah, but this place has ability limiters."

"Yeah" Kalara replied slowly "and you're a Transcendant. You're more powerful than the average Gaurdian. I doubt they took that into account when they installed the limiters in this place."

Realisation dawned on the Hunter femme's face and she grinned. "Hang on, let me try."

Lavender closed her eyes and focused, and a tiny ball of white energy formed in her cupped hands. She parted her hands and the light extended into her forearms as it dissapeared from her hands, extending up her arms and into her body. She opened her eyes, and they were glowing white. After a second, it faded and she grinned a bit wider. Kalara asked "Think you can still phase through a wall?"

"Oh, definitely."

Kalara turned to the other Gaurdians, some of whom had been watching. One of them, a Warlock walked up and asked "How'd you do that?" Lavender smirked "we're Transcendants. we're more powerful. And those of you who want to, we're getting out of here.

A Hunter walked over. He seemed interested in the plan. "But where do we go? The Tower is our home. We're Gaurdians."

Kalara decided to adress the group. "Guys." The ones talking stopped to listen. "I know some of you haven't been in the Tower very long. If you decide to stay and go back to your first ressurection, to be the class you've been assigned, I understand. But it has come to our attention that Gaurdians that have been here a year or more may no have that option. So we.." she motioned to her group "have decided to leave. If you're with us, we have a plan. Step forward if you're with us. If not, I wish you the best."

The Gaurdians all discussed it, and the Warlock and Hunter, Kalara remembered them as being Lindsay Esques and "Ro" (Rhodes) Hydel, the one she'd pulled from the Crucible matches. The other pair, another Warlock, a female human and a Titan, also human, whispered briefly before walking over. 'We're with you, too."

The Warlock who had inquired about their plan, Lindsay, looked scared. Kalara reassured "I know you're scared, but we're a better kind of Gaurdian." she reassured. "I won't make you leave with us. If you feel that you're better off as a Warlock class, then that's what you should do."

the femme nodded and walked back to the couches. She sat, pulling her knees up and rested her chin on them. Kalara looked around the group. There were eight of them left. "When we get out of here, we go to orbit. Lav?" Said Hunter eyed the opposite wall. "There are two gaurds. Hmm. Solar or Void?"

Kalara rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter. Just knock them out, stun their Ghosts so they don't come back right away and let us out."

"Okay." Lavender concentrated then faded from view. "Hope I make it through!" she ran and phased through the wall. A moment later there were suprised shouts and weaponfire, followed by silence. The group held their breath. Had she made it? Time stretched by and they began to think she had been shot, but the door swished open and there stood Lavender, holding the Gaurd's keycard. The group cheered and hurried out of the room.

The Titan, Norse, summoned his Ghost and tried to go to orbit. He made a dissapointed noise. "Can't go to orbit from here."

Kalara thought quickly. "we may be too far down in the tower. Let's head for the Plaza. We can try again there."

Lavender paused to swipe one of the Gaurds' EMP pistol. She tossed the other to Kalara. "Here. You might need this."

"Thanks."

They headed down the hall toward the lifts and Kalara called out "we're on the commons level so check your fire. There may be civilians. If we see any Gaurdians, we might have to fight our way to the lifts."

"Oops." Lavender rolled her eyes.

Kalara glanced at Lavender next to her "what?"

"I, um, may or may not have forgotten to stun the Gaurds' Ghosts." Kalara wanted to roll her eyes, but instead decided to stay focused on the objective. "Let's hurry. we may have less time than we think."

They sped up pace, and a trio of Gaurdians popped out from the 'T' shaped intersecton ahead. Kalara and Lavender fired simultaneously, hitting one. The other two ducked back behind cover.

Lavender called out "allow me." and ran forward, tossing a grenade, punching the one on the right and ducking under the left one's attack long enough to land an open-palmed strike. One by one, their Ghosts came up and Lavender fired her EMP pistol three times, stunning each one.

As they approached, Xanthyr noted "Wow. You're one Gaurdian-killing machine."

"thanks, I think."

"No, I mean because you're in the Crucible all the time. What I'm saying is it's a good thing you're on our side."

"Oh. Well thank you."

"No problem."

They continued on as another group of Gaurdians appeared, this time six of them. Both Kalara and Lavender fired off a set of shots as Norse charged forward, Hydel right behind him. Kalara started to warn him about the EMP pistols but the Titan pounded forward and landed a shoulder charge on the right pair as the Hunter ran and slid, phasing past the remaining four, coming up with his Blazing gun to finish taking them out. The group rounded the corner and headed for the lifts.

A group of civilians that had stepped out into the hall to see what the noise was about shrieked and shouted and hurried back into their room, whatever it was. Kalara didn't stop to look as they jogged down the hall. They finally reached the lifts and hurried in. The doors shut and the lift started upward.

The lifts opened when they reached the Plaza and the group walked out, summoning their Ghosts as they went. zanthyr suddenly said "I can't get to my ship!"

"Me either." Saniya looked puzzled. Lavender growled out "They put our ships on lockout. We can't summon them."

Zanthyr looked around. "Now what?"

Kalara saw the door to the hangar across the Plaza. "We make for the Hangar, maybe we can get our ships from there."

they started forward, and Kalara noticed the shops were empty. She muttered "This feels like a trap." They reached the middle of the Plaza when a voice rang out from overhead. "Stop. Put your weapons down and surrender! Now! Suddenly armed Gaurdians appeared from everywhere, approaching from all sides forming a circle. They stopped, and Kalara silently counted how many of them there were.

The owner of the voice who had spoken jumped down off the mail/Everest building to aim his own gun at Kalara. Her gaze flicked to his gun for a moment. "Ivis."

"Lay down your guns and surrender, or we shoot you freaks and be done with it."

"Let us through. We just want to leave." She glanced at her group, then loked at the Gaurdians surounding them. "It doesn't have to be like this. "

Ivis smirked "Yes, it does." he aimed at Lavender and fired. Gavin jumped up as the rest of the group leapt away in opposite directions. He came down with a flaming fist, sending the Tower Gaurd flying backward. Zanthyr took out three, a titan and two warlocks by the steps and Kalara hurled a ball of light at another group, sending the circle running into scattered groups.

Saniya made it to the door of the hallway leading to the Tower Hangar, but it was sealed, forcefield across it to prevent entry. "the hangar hall's closed off. we can't get in!"

Kalara tried to think quickly. Off toward the lifts, their fellow Hunter, Ro, was throwing grenades and orbs of lightning at a group of six, catching a bullet in the helmet from his left. A trio of Gaurdians were heading toward him.

Next to Kalara, Norse yelled "Grenade!" It exploded, sending an electromagnetic pulse outward. Xanthyr had punched one right into it's effects, landing the final punch on the Titan's helmet with a sickening 'crack'.

Gavin was out on the watch, ducking a group, dodged left, jumped right, swung again. Hit one, dodged the next, Golden Hammer swishing with every swing. Saniya jumped up and activated her Super, flaming wings appeared and the Warlock-class exo levitated over their heads, sending bolts of fiery energy at them.

Trystan had fought his way back to the grassy area next to the climbing tree and was jumping back and forth, ducking behind one of the pillars for cover before launching himself at his foes. He phased and their bullets passed harmlessly through the Hunter. As soon as he was behind him he summoned his Blazing gun and fired. All four dissapeared in fiery orange light.

Lavender had ressurected and was walking around taking out ghosts with Kalara when Six more Gaurdians teleported in. and five of the ones they had taken out ressurected. The trio that took out Norse fired an EMP pulse at his Ghost and turned to catch Trystan offf-Gaurd.

"Trystan!" Saniya jogged toward the downed Hunter, revenge in mind. She summoned an orb of void energy but two of the Gaurdians, Cal and Ivis no less, jumped in opposite directions. Both fired at the same time and the Warlock fell. The four Gaudrians Trystan had been fighting reappeared.

Kalara jumped up and summoned a huge orb of burning light. If these two were going to hate her, it might as well be for a reason. She launched it at the same time Lavender threw a bolt of lightning at a pair of Warlocks who teleported across the Plaza to appear behind Kalara.

The pair jogged back to the center of the Plaza to meet with the rest of the group, who were their weapons at the remaining Gaurdians. It seemed they were evenly matched now.

Meanwhile, in the hall of the Vangaurd, the sound of weaponfire echoed from the Plaza. Cayde looked over at the door then asked "Do you hear something?"

Ikora heard someone shout, then exclaimed "That sounded like weaponfire!"

The trio hurried out to find out what was going on.

A Hunter fired a shot from the platform next to the North Tower hall, narrowly missing Lavender. She eyed the Gaurdian annoyedly.

She spotted the Vangaurd leaders walking up the steps and turned to Lavender. "Go get the others. Tell them to get ready to box. They'll know what that means." she summoned her Ghost. "ding my comm when the EMP first wears off." Xanthyr asked "what're you gonna do?" Kalara replied "Stall."

Zavala barked out "Hold your fire! All of you!" Kalara looked back at her group. "hold your fire. Don't shoot."

"Baxtin! What the Hell is going on out here!?"

Kalara strode toward the trio confidently. "Let us leave." She stopped five feet away. She knew she was well within striking distance. And, with her Ghost disabled, it could very well mean the end of her existence. But negotiation meant gambling. especially if she had an ace up her sleeve.

The Vangaurd commander's gaze never left hers. "You know I can't do that."

There was a moment's silence, then a gunshot rang out. the titan that had been standing just behind Gavin called out "Sorry!"

Kalara whirled. the titan stumbled. "Gavin." Kalara darted to where he was. He pulled off his helmet, gasping for air. Only he couldn't find any. The single shot had caught the Titan in the throat. He fell, and grabbed her hand. She looked down and there was his Ghost, paralysed. Kalara's mind flashed back to the first time her friend, her brother-in-arms had fallen for good.

Her eyes flashed white and she glared up at the Titan who had shot him. But the Gaurdian looked truly remorseful. "I'm... really sorry." and afraid. "my finger slipped." the Gaurdian looked at the ground. Kalara stood as her friend went still, and strode purposefully back to the trio. She heard Cayde mutter "Uh-oh. She looks mad." The Hunter-class stopped and folded her arms. "we just want to leave. Let us leave."

Cayde put in "Would it really be so bad to just be a Hunter?"

"Yeah, that would be fine and well, but I *can't*! Apparently, my Ghost has done one too many rescans, and it's primary data's lost forever." She looked to Zavala. "The Speaker called me a mistake. So if I stay, I will literally lose everything I have ever known." she paused then added "The Speaker wants to erase my Ghost."

"And what about the others?" He looked over her shoulder. "Is it too late for them?"

Kalara followed his gaze. "As far as I've learned, anyone above a level Twenty."

"Then they will have to stay."

Kalara shook her head. "We want to leave. All of us."

"And I cannot allow that." He paused to think, then added, almost with hesitation, "Any of you."

Kalara heard her comm ding. She frowned, taking three steps back and into her comm said "Now."

Out of thin air, Ten Gaurdians appeared around the perimiter of the Plaza. Six from behind the leaders, three more from the traveler's walk to aim their weapons and two more from either side, aiming over the fence. Kalara's angry expression vaporised, replaced by an impressed, almost smug smile. She turned to find Lavender standing there. She looked around, then asked "I thought you said there were a handful?"

"Oh there were, but they have families. Their fireteams."

"mm-hm." Kalara turned to hear Cayde mutter something about "Jack-in-the-Box maneuver. Nice." And he got a glaring glance from Zavala from it Kalara looked over at him, completely calm and sincere when she replied "I learned from the best." The Hunter clasped her hands, noticing how the trio glanced behind them.

Lavender saw Gavin and ran to channel her light into his Ghost. She glared at the Gaurdians just feet from them, wondering who it was that had shot him. One of the three, a Titan, looked at the ground, then away from her. She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't attack him.

Kalara took a deep breath then said in a calm, serious tone (or she hoped) "Look, I know, we all know, there is no level, no room in this Tower that can contain us. we could surrender, we could lose this fight, but we would just escape again. And the fighting would just resume. I didn't want this violence. we're not violent Gaurdians." She really didn't want them to have to fight. "and I know you don't want violence either. Please. For the peace of the Tower, just, let us leave. we'll dissapear, never to return."

Ikora asked "Never."

"Never."

Zavala quickly glanced around, counting how many Gaurdians the group had added. Kalara kept her expression neutral till his gaze met hers. She could almost see his eyes narrow slightly. He almost grudgingly commed "Holiday, unlock those ships. Let them leave."

"Okay, but the Speaker's not gonna like it."

"I know."

Kalara nodded. "Thank you." she turned to her group and announced. "Let's go. we're leaving." Several cheers sounded, and Gavin sat up, gasping and coughing. Lavender pullled him into a warm embrace, then helped him up. She told him they were leaving, and he looked nodded to Kalara, who nodded back. One by one the group teleported out, leaving Kalara.

After the last Gaurdian had teleported, she took a deep breath and she silently walked past the Gaurdians they had been fighting; Out onto the watch and she stood at the railing for several seconds gazing down at the city she loved, protected. Then up at the Traveler, the one who protected the city, who had brought her back. A sense of sadness crept over her and she turned to see their leaders, once her leaders, then summoned her Ghost, and teleported away. 


	4. 4 Farewells and Fortune

It had been two weeks since Kalara's group had left the Tower. Cayde sighed and refocused on the fireteam he was following on the Dreadnaught, running patrols. off to his right, Ikora teased "You're sulking again."

"No I'm not, I'm just bored. gotta get out of this Tower."

"Mm-hm."

A soft clink sounded, but the Exo ignored it, until Ikora noticed a new tablet in front of her that wasn't there before. And their commander immediately noticed the book that mysteriously appeared among the scattered reports and other papers that littered the table in front of him.

Ikora noticed the tablet, and picked it up "..What?" Cayde looked up, noticing the thin cylindrical canister with a funnel shape on the top that pointed to one side. "an airhorn?"

He looked around "Kalara?"

She was standing next to Zavala, who had picked up the book, _The Art of War_ , that she had placed there.

Her voice sounded to his left. "A way of apologising. I'm so sorry for all the insanity that happened that day. I really didn't want any of that to happen."

She looked at the other two leaders, walked to the center of the table and made sure nobody was coming before turning off her stealth camo. The hunter shimmered into view.

Zavala picked up the book. "The Art of war?"

She kind of figured he'd read something like that. She was right.

"I haven't read this in a long time."

She shrugged. "It's kind of one of my favorites." She smiled a little, hoping her confession would work a little toward his forgiveness. Honestly, the book was what had inspired her to be tactics-driven.

Cayde commented "You know I could see you the entire time, right?" Kalara rolled her eyes, then looked over at Ikora, who read the data on the tablet she had left for her.

"this... is the data on the transcentants." she looked at Kalara. "the full data."

Kalara nodded. "I've been researching what makes us how we are. I've isolated almost all of the the factors so if anyone else manifests these kind of powers." she looked at the floor "You can try to fix them or deal with them however you want. I don't want to see fighting like that ever again."

She looked over at Zavala. "Again, I can't express how sorry I am that happened."

"see to it that it doesn't."

"I will." she looked to Cayde, who was holding the canister with curiosity. She explained "in case the rookies get loud or try to argue. trust me, I had one occasion where they just wouldn't stop yelling, and that thing shuts 'em up real fast." she grinned.

"Yeah. And I remember a certain Gaurdian startling a certain Hunter with it also."

Kalara's grin broadened as she shrugged. "well now it's yours."

"Heh, thanks."

"I'm sure it'll come in handy."

Zavala said "I thought you said you would never return to the Tower. Why now?"

Kalara answered "I came to say goodbye. Probably forever" She shifted her gaze to her former boss, Cayde, before continuing "My group scattered as soon as we broke orbit. Some of us, myself and my closest, are looking for a Vex conflux that'll let us travel back in time to before all this craziness took place."

She looked away briefly before continuing. "Either we'll find a way back, or we might become stuck in the Vex construct, trapped for all eternity. She took a moment, then continued. "But at least we'll have tried."

She looked at Cayde. "It's been a truly fun ride. But I gotta go." She looked left, then right. "i'm sorry it had to end this way. Maybe... maybe it's all just a bad dream and I'll wake up tomorrow morning."

Cayde just looked at her. "Stay safe out there, Gaurdian."

"thanks. I will."

Two voices from the next room yelled "Stop! Hey, you!"

Kalara saw a pair of Titans jogging through the next rooom. she chuckled "Watch this" then backed off to the far end of the room. they entered the room and she jumped up, phasing as they went so their shots passed through her then ran through the room doing a zig-zag pattern, and off through the next room and up the stairs, talking the entire time.

"it's a beautiful day for the race Stooge Hand is the favorite Assault is in there Dog Biscuit is three to one Safety Pin has been scratched" She could allready hear Cayde chuckling over the comm as she made it almost all the way through the middle room.

"And bringing up the rear is Beetle Bomb." she made it past Eris Morn and up the steps to the Plaza "And for the Grand Finale, a high jump a long drop and a short stop! YEE HA!" She yelled the last part as she jumped the fence, turning as she went to face both her persuers and flip them the bird with both hands as she fell.

"SO LONG SUCKERS!"

The Hunter-class teleported halfway down, landing in her ship. she said to no one in particular, though she had a certain person in mind "I hope we make it." Her Ghost, hovering next to her, answered "I do, too."

End Notes: That last bit Kalara rattles off as she's being chased from the Hall of the Vangaurd to the Overwatch (not the high jump part though) is from a song by Spike Jones. I think it's called "A Day At the Races", or something like that. My Dad would recite it every time he starts losing at Gin Rummy. And my family played every weekend for years. So yeah. LOL. I still find it funny.


End file.
